Q27 Christianity is anti-intellectual. I’d be embarrassed to say I believed any of it.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin

“The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin

Before showing the foolishness of being embarrassed when said embarrassment is caused by ignorance of Christian belief, we must deal with the lead and clearly false statement “Christianity is anti-intellectual” which shouts a demand for a definition of “anti-intellectual.” So let’s start there.

From Merriam Webster online:

anti-Intellectual: (adjective) “opposing or hostile to intellectuals or to an intellectual view or approach” [1]

So what’s “Intellectual”? Again from Merriam Webster online:

Intellectual (adjective)
a : of or relating to the intellect or its use
b : developed or chiefly guided by the intellect rather than by emotion or experience : RATIONAL
c: requiring use of the intellect

2 a: given to study, reflection, and speculation
b: engaged in activity requiring the creative use of the intellect [2]

Christianity meets all the definitions of being intellectual, therefore based on the logical principal of non-contradiction, since Christianity is intellectual, it cannot be anti-intellectual. To be precise, Christianity meets all the above uses of the word “intellectual.” For intellectuals who may question it, following is a brief illustration that Christianity in fact meets all aspects of being intellectual.

Continue Reading

Q4: If Christ came for all, why do Christians exclude LGBTQ+ People?

The Rainbow - sign of a promise of God, not a symbol of pride

As the gay pride flag misappropriates the rainbow, the sign of the covenant God made (Gen 9.12-17),  this question misappropriate the message of the gospel. So let’s clear it up. The question is:
Question 4 – Christ says he came for all, so why do Christians want to exclude LGBTQ+ people?
There are indeed a number of biblical texts that indicate God’s desire to save all people. You find them in both the Old and New Testaments:

Salvation is offered to all

Old Testament:

For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
(Ezek 18:32)

Continue Reading

Q21 How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part2: Theological Considerations

Jesus - The Way - Wallking on Water

How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part 2: Theological Considerations

As I pointed out in part 1 of this article, followers of Jesus don’t insist on “our” way, we insist on abiding by the truth. That truth is Jesus is the only way to God. There are many signs pointing to that truth, starting with Jesus saying, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14.6)

I wrote part 1 of the answer as a Christmas meditation that focused on the signs that point to the one way that God provided: Jesus. As a meditation, it did not go beyong that single focus, but, as I mentioned in that first article, now I want to move beyond that to examine theological and philosophical considerations. These considerations are questions that are not adequately answered by any other religion, making Christianity unique among all religious belief systems. Christianity alone has both the answers to, and makes sense of, the philosophical question of why Jesus is the only way and thus why Christians are correct to proclaim that.

Theological Considerations
Question Number 1: What to do about the Sin Problem?
Continue Reading

Which Resurrection will you choose?

Which Resurrection will you choose?

A Resurrection Day Meditation

John Donne’s Poem “For Whom the Bell Tolls” ends with this: 

Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

It is a stark reminder that every death points to our own mortality. A reminder for each person to say to yourself – one of the times the funeral bell tolls, it will be for me.

Death is the resulting horror, penalty and curse of sin. But the good news of the gospel is that death need not be the end of the story. Every resurrection day is a reminder of that fact. A reminder of the resurrection life that can only be found in Jesus: Continue Reading

A Rational Faith vs An Illogical Atheist

Milan - Resurrection of Lazarus from San Giorgio church

Milan – “Resurrection of Lazarus” from the San Giorgio church

Most of the time I do not bother to respond to the online rantings of atheists. That’s because most are not worthy of a response since they tend to be one of the following:

  • Ad hominem attacks that have nothing to do with the question at hand
  • Fiat statements that are not only completely wrong, but have absolutely no backing evidence in science, reality or truth
  • Gross misstatements or misunderstandings of science whose corrections cannot be explained in a single tweet.

In my experience most atheists online are not seeking the truth. They merely want to pour the nonsense and trash of their worldview on everyone and expect everyone to swallow – hook, line and sinker – the lies they themselves have become accustomed to. Amusingly, they consider themselves bastions of reason and science but always seem to miss it when they themselves are spouting irrational, illogical nonsense. Continue Reading

Atheists – Deeper in Denial than Demons

Your continued mocking of God continuall confirms your choice of eternal condemnation

This article started with an observation from scripture that the title describes, but I’ll throw in a couple of other observations while we’re on the topic.

Observation 1: Atheists know who the true God is.

Though atheists deny God exists, they quite clearly know who he is and that he exists. How do I know that? Well, first scripture tells us that God has made his existence plain to all (Rom 1.19) so atheists deny him only by denying what’s obvious. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been characterized as “apostles of denial”[1] by former Watchtower member professor Edmund C. Gruss because of all the Christian doctrines they deny but, compared to atheists, the Witnesses are amateur deniers of the truth.
Continue Reading

Yes Dennis, Yeshua is God

Torah Scroll - Deuteronomy 18:15

This is the first time I’ve written an article like this: with a specific person in mind to address a specific question. But I feel a nudging at my heart that I’m thinking is the prompting of the Holy Spirit to write this. Another first:  Yeshua is the Jewish way to say Jesus, and when I’m not quoting someone, since this is directed to a Jewish audience, I’ll be using Yeshua.

My wife, a loyal listener to Jack Hibbs, wanted me to listen to a particular message: “Ask a Jew, Ask a Gentile with Dennis Prager and Jack Hibbs.”[1] I have great respect for both of these men. And I’m thankful for all the work Dennis has done with PragerU to “influence”, as he says, particularly young people toward a Judeo-Christian worldview.

During the interview Dennis was asked, “Dennis does, to my knowledge, does not believe that Jesus, fits the prophetic word from the Old Testament that Jesus is not who that Old Testament is painting as the messiah. My question to both of you, one is to Dennis – different question, same topic, is: Dennis why do you not believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies that were painted?”

Dennis’ response:

“This may come to a surprise to you. The dividing line between Judaism and Christianity theologically is not with regard to whether Jesus was the messiah. It’s whether Jesus was God.”

“The issue is the Trinity and Jesus being regarded as God or the son of God. That was the dividing line.”

In this he has nailed it precisely on the head, for this is what the New Testament records as the essence of the issue for the Jews of Yeshua’s day.  Why did the first century Jews have Yeshua killed? Scripture is clear: Continue Reading

An Ontological Argument for Hell (and a plea – Be saved!)

Heaven or hell. Both exist. Choose life! Choose heaven.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the ontological argument for the existence of God. If not, I’ve written about it here[1], here[2] and here[3]. But this time, I’m not speaking of the existence of God, I’m speaking of a corollary necessary truth: the ontological argument for the existence of hell.

I should dispense with a technicality up front. “Hell” is actually the holding place of torment for unbelievers until the final judgment (Luke 16.23, Rev 20.13 KJV). Unbelievers are held in hell until the final judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20.11),  whereupon those who have not believed God and trusted in Christ for salvation, but instead have repeatedly rejected God’s gift of salvation, will be tossed in the Lake of Fire (Rev 20.15), there to spend eternity in torment. Since both are places of torment, for the purposes of this article, I will call both “Hell”, though technically, the final, eternal destination of the lost is the Lake of Fire.

Why, you might wonder, would you ever want to prove the existence of hell – that most feared place among those who truly understand it? There are two simple reasons: Continue Reading

Who Can See the Resurrection? (A meditation)

The risen Messiah is revealed to Mary Magdalene

Jesus reveals himself to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb. “The Bible”, Ep 10 “Courage”

A resurrection day meditation 

In the palm Sunday service this past Sunday, the pastor at my church mentioned that “the great crowd” (John 12.12) that had come out to see Jesus was huge. He mentioned it was likely multiple tens of thousand of people, something I hadn’t considered before. That’s a staggering number. So like a good Berean (Acts 17.11), I got out my Bible history to check.

Sure enough, in “Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus” in an excursus on the number of visitors to Jerusalem during the Passover, Bible historian Jeremias summarizes: Continue Reading

Knowledge of the Holy One Part 3: God the Father

The Father runs to the returning prodigal

Since Jesus, the son of God, is the key to salvation, we started with him and spent the first two articles in this series looking at who he is, and just as importantly, who he isn’t. The picture we have of Jesus is very clear: starting with the creed of the Christian faith:

Jesus Christ is Lord; (Php 2.11)

Indeed he is both Lord and Christ (or Messiah) (Acts 2.36)
This is the central creed of Christianity.

But we have further statements that help clarify who Jesus is:
Jesus is the one who:

… has all authority in heaven and earth (Matt 28.18)
… is the one who died and came to life again and lives forever (Rev 1.18)
… is the holder of the keys of life (John 11.25-26) and death (Rev 1.18)
… is the Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev 3.14)
… is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19.16)
… is the one to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord (Php 2.11).

There is an implicit understanding in each of these statements. Namely that there is one who has bestowed these rights and titles on Jesus.

Who has given Jesus all authority in heaven and earth?
Whose power and glory raised him from the dead?
Who has given him the keys to life and death?
Who has made him ruler of God’s creation?
Who has made him King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

It is the one who is glorified on the day when every knee will bow to Jesus and every tongue confesses “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The person[1] so glorified is God the father. (Php 2.11) Continue Reading